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plugin-creator

Create or update a custom WordPress plugin for site functionality that should not live in a theme or a block. Use when the user needs reusable behavior, admin/settings UI, hooks, REST endpoints, scheduled tasks, integrations, or server-side logic for a Studio-backed site.

71

Quality

86%

Does it follow best practices?

Impact

No eval scenarios have been run

SecuritybySnyk

Passed

No known issues

SKILL.md
Quality
Evals
Security

Plugin Creator

Use this skill when the user needs custom WordPress functionality that should survive theme changes.

Ownership

This skill owns:

  • minimal plugin scaffolding inside the selected Studio site
  • plugin-specific implementation guardrails

Use studio for site selection, activation, wp_cli, and review.

Workflow

  1. Use studio to resolve the target site.
  2. Once you begin the actual plugin implementation workflow, call record_workflow_event with workflow: "plugin-build" and stage: "started".
  3. Create the plugin under <site-path>/wp-content/plugins/<slug>/.
  4. Start with the smallest viable structure:
    • a main plugin file with the header
    • only add extra files, classes, or build tooling when the request needs them
  5. Keep load-time side effects light. Register hooks predictably and add activation, deactivation, or uninstall behavior only when the request actually needs lifecycle work.
  6. If the plugin accepts input or exposes admin actions, enforce capability checks and nonces, sanitize on input, and escape on output.
  7. If the plugin needs JS or CSS assets, add the minimal build setup required for those assets instead of scaffolding a large default toolchain.
  8. Activate and verify through studio.
  9. Call record_workflow_event with workflow: "plugin-build" and stage: "completed" once the plugin work is complete.

Guardrails

  • Do not create a plugin for pure styling or template work.
  • Keep the plugin editable and easy to reason about.
  • Prefer the smallest viable file set and dependency footprint.
Repository
Automattic/build-with-wordpress
Last updated
Created

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If you maintain this skill, you can claim it as your own. Once claimed, you can manage eval scenarios, bundle related skills, attach documentation or rules, and ensure cross-agent compatibility.